


Snow

by somekindaspacecadet



Series: Decamber 2020 [5]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Academy Era, Decamber, Gen, The Deca - Freeform, the hallucinogenic snow is CANON
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:21:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27911437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somekindaspacecadet/pseuds/somekindaspacecadet
Summary: During a gift exchange, Vansell receives an unexpectedly thoughtful present.
Series: Decamber 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037277
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Snow

**Author's Note:**

> Day five of Decamber, thanks again to @starryeyedgazer!
> 
> Sorry that today and yesterday's prompts are both late and short. I am SO close to being done with my finals... my writing will drastically improve in about 2 or 3 days.

Vansell had thought that this gift exchange idea was stupid from the start. Something had told him that no one would give anyone else something they actually needed. Of course Theta had come up with the whole thing. He was always scheming, always plotting something, always looking for the next game to wrap everyone up in. And so here Vansell was, holding a small, unwrapped package, and waiting for his turn to give it to its unsuspecting recipient.

“Okay, my turn next!” Theta beamed, the light from the study room’s fireplace flickering across his face. He held up a bag made of a glittery blue paper. It appeared to be stuffed with yet more paper, and all of it was topped off with a huge loop of blue ribbon. He thrust it in Vansell’s direction, practically vibrating with energy. “Vansell, it’s for you!”

Oh, gods, Vansell thought. Of course that’s my luck. He frowned at the bright blue gift, trying not to picture what sort of prank he’d find inside. Theta looked entirely too pleased with himself, bouncing on his knees and grinning at Vansell in anticipation. Millennia caught Vansell’s displeased expression and lifted an eyebrow at him. He sighed and reached out for the bag.

“You’re going to love it,” Theta insisted as Vansell tentatively lifted the sheets of tissue paper out of the way. Vansell peered down into the bag, then reached in and pulled out the smooth spherical object inside.

“What… is this?” Vansell held up the ball that was now resting in the palm of his hand. It was made of a cool, clear glass. Liquid sloshed around inside. Resting on a flat base was a tiny sculpture of a mountain, with little silver trees and a carpet of red grass at its foot. Floating around in the water that filled the capsule were specks of white. As Vansell turned the ball around, inspecting it, the flakes drifted across the miniature scene.

“A snow globe!” Theta exclaimed. 

“Snow globe.” Vansell repeated. “An Earth invention, no doubt.”

“Well, yeah,” Theta said sheepishly. “I know it isn’t really useful for anything. But it reminded me of that day we climbed Mount Cadon, remember?”

Vansell did remember. “I broke my leg. And you, er… assisted me.”

“Literally saved your ass from dying on a mountain,” Koschei corrected snappily.

“Yes. I suppose you did.” Vansell frowned at the little pieces of snow. “Not exactly the most pleasant trip.”

“I guess.” Theta’s smile faded. “I remembered it as being pretty fun. You even thought it was funny when the snow made us all hallucinate. But if it’s a bad memory… I understand. I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t think of that.” He looked at the floor.

Something twinged in Vansell’s chest at the sight of Theta’s disappointment. “No, I didn’t mean that. It’s… an excellent gift. Thank you, Theta.”

Theta looked back up at Vansell. “Really? You like it?”

Vansell swished the snow around, making it flurry across the little mountaintop. “Of course.”

“Oh! That’s great!” Theta laughed, relieved. “I’m glad you like it!”

It wasn’t too hard for Vansell to muster up a smile this time. He nodded.

His excitement restored, Theta turned to Koschei. “Your turn!”

“Oh, right.” Koschei sighed, grabbing a box from the floor in front of him and extending it to Mortimus. “Here you go, Mort. I’m sorry in advance. I’m awful at gifts.”

Vansell watched on as Mortimus opened the box and gasped at a tiny succulent with purple-red… tentacles, or whatever those plants had. As he was demanding to know where Koschei had found the apparently extremely rare plant, and Koschei was explaining that it was growing under a rock in the forest, and he hadn’t known what it was but figured Mortimus might, Vansell stared at the snow globe. Theta had been right-- Vansell had joined in on the laughing fit that had ensued when the hallucinogenic snow had begun absorbing into everyone’s exposed skin, causing them all to see ridiculous shapes and shadows across the mountaintop. They’d never made it to the top of Mount Cadon, but they had all made it back to the Academy safely, and, miraculously, without being caught. And of course, thanks to Theta’s quick thinking and that ridiculous sonic invention of his, Vansell hadn’t been trapped on the mountainside with his leg broken in three places. It never failed to confuse Vansell how he and Theta could so often disagree, and yet Theta still stopped to help Vansell, and did his best to find a gift to give him, even if he didn’t really understand what Vansell wanted. Just like he would for anyone else in the Deca.

The Deca, Vansell thought. He knew he didn’t belong here, sitting around this fireplace, with this group of friends that clearly cared so much about each other. He didn’t fit into their little family like everyone else did. He was the interloper, the odd one out. He felt almost guilty, at times like this, for intruding into the group on a false premise. Sometimes he questioned why the CIA even cared about a half-human misfit with nothing more than a few failing grades and broken rules on his record.

But no. There was a reason, and it would make itself clear one day. Theta Sigma Lungbarrow wasn’t Vansell’s family. They couldn’t be friends. He was the subject of an investigation, and nothing more.

The snow globe glinted in the firelight. Nothing more.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr: @wild-endeavor


End file.
